,S"v.'r 



INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 



OF 



CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 



CYRENUS WHEELER, Jk. 



THE 



INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 



OF 



CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 



i. V ^ 



BY 



CYRENUS WHEELER, Jr. 



WITH A SUrl'LEMENT 



BY DAVID M. OSBORNE. 



Read before the Cayuga Coaiity Historical Society, at Auburn, N. Y., December 21, 
1880, and forming a part of their publications, " No. 2." 



ILLUSTRATED BY FRANK A\ A' A rtlBUN 



AUBURN, N. Y. ^ ^.~^f..\ 

Published by the Author. 
1882. 












In Exch. 

Wis. Hist. So«k 



AUTHOR'S EDITION, TWO HUNDRED COPIES. 



Number 



KNA#P*.&1 PECK, 
Book, Job and Oommercial Printers, 

AUBUKN, N. Y. 



INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page. 

Head-Piece *? 

Original Initial 9 

Fig. I. Costume of Man, Stone Age i° 

2. Grecian Lady in Dress of Old Style " 

3. Costume of Rich Bourgeoise, 14TH Century n 

4. Plan of Ancient Work near Auburn 12 

5. Arrow Heads, ^3 

6. Spear Heads, etc., ^^ 

7. Stone PE.STLE AND Hammer Stone i5 

8. Canoe ^^ 

9. Log Cabin ^ 

10. Samp Mortar ^' 

11. Primitive Corn Mill ^7 

18 

12. Sugar Camp 

13. Log Boat ^^ 

14. Log Sled ^9 

15. Primitive Spinner ^° 

16. Egyptian Women using the Distaff 20 

17. Spinning Wheel •. ^^ 

18. Reel " 

19. Flax Spinning Wheel 22 

20. Eastern Mode of Churning 23 

21. DashChurn ^3 

22. Rotary Churn ^-^ 

28 

23. Primitive Hoe 

24. Primitive Hoe with Bone Blade 28 

25. Egyptians Plowing ^° 

26. Plow of Ancient Greeks 29 



INDEX TO ILL LUSTRATIONS. 

27. Punv Shod WITH Mktai. .. ... 29 

28. " Bull Plow " 3° 

29. Jlthro Wood Plow 33 

30. I'(jKiRAi r OK Jkihro Wood 37 

31. Sif:KLii OF Bronze Epoch 47 

32. Sickle OF Iron Epoch 47 

33. Egypt L\N II arvf.stlnc, Scf.ne 47 

34. Modern SicKLK 48 

35. Application of the Sickle 48 

36. " Ani ani " . 4S 

37. Application of the ' Ani-ani " : 49 

38. Early Rkapinc, Machine, First Century 49 

39. Stripping Teeth of above . ... . . 50 

40. IIarvf:sting Cradle 50 

41. Ai'Plication of Harvesting Cradle 51 

42. Scythe of the Iron Epoch 51 

43. Scythe of Modern Times , ■ • • • 5 2 

44. Application of the Scythe S- 

45. Meares' Machine 53 

46. Plan View of IIussey Machine 55 

47. Perspective View OF IIussey Machine 56 

48. FoRBUSH Machine, as a. Mower 59 

49. FoRBUsH Machine, as a Reaper 59 

50. Ketchum Machine 61 

31. Early KiRBY Machine f'2 

52. Later KiRBY Machine.. 62 

53. KiRBY Machine of 1882 63 

54. OsiiORNE Self-Binding Harvester f)5 

55. BuRDicK Reaper 67 

56. Osborne Mower No. 7, Burdick Type 6g 

57. Wheeler Machine of 1S54 5 ... 71 

58. Cutting Apparatus OF First Wheeler Machine 71 

59. Wheeler Machine OF T856 73 

60. Wheeler Machine of 1857 ... 75 

61. Wheeler Machine OF 185S 9 75 



INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. 5 

62. Wheeler Machine op 1S60 — " Cayuga Chief" 77 

63. Wheeler Machine of i860, Folded Cutter Bar 78 

64. " Cayuca Chief " of i860, as a Reater 79 

65. " Cayuga Chief " of 1861, with Overhanging Reei 80 

66. ■' Cayuga Chief No. 2," Hand Raking Reai'er, 1862 81 

67. " CA-i uga Chief, Jr." — Mower of 1861 82 

68. " Cayuga Chief, Jr." — on the Road, 1861 83 

69 " Cayuga Chief " as a " dropper," 1864 84 

70. Wheeler Single Reaper of 1866 85 

71. " Cayuga Chief," with Johnston Self-Rake, 1867 86 

72. "Cayuga Chief" SelfRaking Reaper No. 2. 1868 87 

73. " Cayuga Chief" Self-Raking Harve.ster of 1869 .... 88 

74. Wheeler Mower No. 6, of 1872 89 

75. Wheeler Mower N.). 6, Showing Gearing 90 

76. Wheeler CoMiiiNED No. 6, 1873 gi 

77. Wheeler Combined No. 6, Platform Folded, 1875 . . 92 

78. Wheeler Independent Front-Cut Mower of 1881 93 

Tail-Piece . . 95 

Head-Piece 99 



Original Initiai 

Tail Piece 1 



99 



02 



THE INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 
OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 



Read before the Cayuga County Historical Society, at Auburn, N. Y. 
December 21st, 1880. 

BY CYRENUS WHEELER, JR. 




Esiyptian Flax Harvesting Scene. 

IT^VENTORS AND mVENTIOKS 

OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 




HE subject of our paper 
this eve]iiiig will be " The 
Inventors and Inventions 
of Cayuga County." 

This County was origi- 
nally included in Albany 
County, which was formed 
in 1683, and by subse- 
(^uent statute was made to 
comprise everything with- 
in the Colony of New 
York, north and west of 
the present limits of that 
Count3^ and all of Ver- 
mont. The County of 
Montgomery was formed 
from it, March 12, 1772, 
under the name of Tyron, borne by the then Colonial 
Governor. Its present name was given it in honor of General 
Eichard Montgomery of Revolutionary fame. Herkimer 



10 



INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 



County, (originally called Ergheimer,) was formed fi'(Mn 
Montgomery, February 16, 1791, and Onondaga County 
from Herkimer, March 5, 1794. Onondaga County at this 
time comprised the whole military tract, ami from this was 
taken Cayuga County, March 8, 1799, and Seneca County 
from Caynga in 1804, and a })art of Tompkins County' in 

1817, and Cortland County 
from Onondaga in 1808. 

In treating the subject, 
we must ask the kind in- 
dulgence ()( our hearers 
whilst brief allusion is 
made to some of the earlier 
inventions of the countr}^ 
and the world. 

George Fainpdiar, two 
hundred years ago truly 
said, '"Necessity, is the 
mother of invention." This 
necessity has been ac- 
knowledged in all times 
and in every age, and 
among every people has 
been acted upon. Inven- 
tion antedates the flood, 
and was at an early day 
practiced by our first })ar- 

the Reindeer Epoch, stone Age. g^j^S. After partaking of 

the forbidden fruit, they felt the necessity of being clothed ; 
" And they sewed fig-leaves together, and made for them- 
selves aprons," and thus became the first inventors, and joint 
inventors also, the record of which has been preserved in 
Genesis, third chapter and seventh verse. The question of 
dress from that day to this has been an important one, and 




Fig. 1.— Costume and Accoutrements of Man in 



OF CAVUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 



11 




especially so in modern times to those fair daughters oC Eve, 

Nith extensive wardrobes often 
view, of the rapid changes and 
rfiil inventions of fashion, that 
have nothing to wear." 

iirst necessity was food and 
ig, the next shelter ; and it is 
recorded in the fourth 
chapter and seventeenth 
verse of the same book, 
that '• Enoch builded a 
City " ; and in the twen- 
tieth verse, tliat Jabel 
" was the father of such 

Fig. -.-Grecian Lady in Dress of Old Style. .^^^ J^^.^,|] j,-, ^^^^^^ ." j,, ^],q 

twenty-lirst verse, that his brother 
Jubal, " was the father of all 
such as handled the harp and 
orijan ;" and in the twentv second 
verse we learn that Tubal Cain 
" was an instructor of every 
artificer in brass and iron." In- 
vention at that early day, ap})cars 
to have made rapid progress. 

The City built by Enoch, was 
probably a collection of tents, 
and the people mainly led a 
])astoral life, as "Jabel was the 
father of such as dwell in tents, 
and have much cattle." In 
Genesis, eleventh cha})ter, third 
verse, we learn that the descend- 
ants of Noah on the plains of 
Shinar, invented l)rick for build- 
ing a city, and erecting a tower, 

. c 1 1 ^i*5- 3.— Costume of Rich Boiirgeoise, 

neither of which appear to have i^th century. 




12 



INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 



been completed. Invention had readied a higli standard, 
and the arts and commerce flourished in past ages. 

In regard to this conntiy, and more especially this County, 
and the inventions practiced hei'c at an early day, it is ].)i()per 
to inquire. This County, before its settlement by the whites, 
was the hunting ground ol' the Cayugas, a tribe of the Six 



:t* 









5 




Fig. 4.— Plan of Ancient Work near Anburn, N. Y. (Fort Hill).— From Ancient 

Monuments of the United States. No. 1. — By E. G. Squier, 

Harpers' Magazine, May, 1880, p. 743. 

Nations. Prior to their occupancy of it, another, and dif- 
ferent race of people resided here. Agassiz has declared that, 
in his opinion, " America, so far as her physical history is 
concerned has been falsely denominated the 'New Worhl' 
Hers was the first diy land lifted out of the waters ; hers, 
the first shore washed by the ocean that envelo})ed all the 
earth beside; and while Europe was represented only by 



OP CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 



13 




islands, rising here and tliere above the sea, America stretciied 
an iinbi'oken line of land, from Nova Scotia to the * Far 

West.'" Tlie charac- 
teristics of this early 
race, can only be judged 
of by the vestiges of 
their works yet in exis- 
tence, as found widely 
scattered all over the 
country. 

It has been inferi'ed 
that this race was an 
agricultural people, de- 
pendent upon the soil 
I'ather than the chase 
for support. When, or 
liow they disappeared, 
is veiled in uncertainty. 
It is, however, clear that 
many centuries must 
have elapsed since they 
occupied the country. 

The aljoriginesof the 
conntiy possessed in a 
modei-ate degree, in- 
ventive talent which 
was born of their first 
great necessities — food 
and clothing; secondly 
of the means for offence 
and defense ; thirdly, 
transportation ; and fourthly, of a desire for ornamentation. 
Its manifestation is shown in their im])lements of the chase and 
warfare, the bow and arrows and spears, the flint heads of 




Fio. 5.— Six Arrow Heads of Flint— Cay u<;ii Tribe 
From Ancient Town oii"C'utting Place," 
N. E. corner of City of Auburn, N. Y. 



u 



INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 

wliic'li, found in dilTeretit 
localities, by their differ- 
ence in form and finisli, 
indicating dilference of 
degree in the skill and 
inventive talent of the 
makers. 

Their wigwams, their 
dress including their leg- 
gings and moccasins, at- 
test their inventive talent 
and mechanical skill ; 
and the light bark canoe, 
(Fig. 8.) as a means of 
transpoi'tation, not only 
evinces skill, but an 
ad;i])tati()n of means to 
ends in harmony with 
their surrcjundings. 

Rude pottery, as well 
as beads are found and 
attest the same faculty. 
When, or by whom these 
rude arts were first prac- 
ti(;ed, is uncertain ; how 
long they had been prac- 
ticed will remain forever 
uid<n()wn. They were, 
howevt'r, s(^ practiced 
at the earliest date of 
which we have any au- 
thentic record of this 
countrv, which goes back 
to the eai'ly part of the 
seventeenth century. 




Fui B.— «, f}, Flint. Spear Heads ; c. Knife ; <l, iin 

known ; «,/, Celts or Scrapers. Kroni farm 

of Ulysses Wright, Esq., on Franklin 

Street, Auburn, N. Y. 



OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 



15 



The permanent settlement of this County by Europeans 
scarcely reaches back a century. Tlie early 
pioneers, here found a nearly unbroken 
wilderness and with rare exceptions a heavy 
growth of timljer, the ])roduct of a long un- 
disturbed and prolific soil. To the removal 
of the forest they bent their energies. First 
ill the order of their necessities, shelter was 
required. The straight 
bodies of the forest trees 
serva-d the purpose, and the 
woodman's axe shaped them 
and from them the house 
was erected. Bai"ks served 
as a covei'ing ; an open fire- 
place of stone, and a chim- 
nev laid up with sticks and 

Fic.7. — a. stone Pestlo from Cato, 6. Hammer ' 

Stone from "Steel Place," Auburn, N.Y. mud; a SpUllt ])lank floor, 









Fio. 8. 



a door on wooden hinges and a '' latch-string always out,' 
completed the early home of the pioneer. 



16 



INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 



The furniture was scant and of the simplest kin<l. This 
home, however rude, was the centre of as much real hap- 
piness as more jirctentions mansions often aflfoi'd. As fast 




as the forest disappeared, tlic cuhjNation of the soil })ro- 
gressed. The implements in use were ada[»ted to tlieir 
necessities. The axe tliat cleft tlie timber, opened the 
grounil for the n'ception of seed when thickly spread roots 
forbade the use of the hoe. 



OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 



17 




£1.=.- 
O O 






W3 

>t. p 






The crop of corn, when raised, was converted mto 
and coarse meal by hand, aided by the stump of a 



^^ 



Fk;. 11.— Primitive Com Mill, Stone Ac;e. (Figuicr.) 



samp 
tree 




18 



INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 



liollowed out hy the axe and fire to form a mortar, and a 
large wooden pestle suspended above it from a spring-pole. 

The forest also yielded sweetness. The sngar maple, 
abundant in this County in those days yielded, in early 




spring, an abundant harvest of sap, whieli was caught in 
troughs shaped by the axe, and boiled down to a delicious 
syrup making more palatable the corn meal cake, and the 
boiled samp. 



OF CAYUGA COUNTV, N. Y. 



19 



W 



ith the advance of improvements, animals were intr 



ducecl, and oxen became impc 



H'tant aids in subduing the 




Fig. 13.-" Log-boat," of Early Settlers. 

wilderness and culttvating the soil. Tl.e implements and 
,,,,l,i,„vy in use were of the simplest kind; but of the 
kind best adapted to the necessities of the 
time. The first vehicles in use, were the 
" log lu.at," and the " log-sled." The first 
was formed of the crotch of a tree shaped 
by the axe, to slide over the ground. To 
this, the oxen, were attached by a chain, 
and it served much the same purpose as 
tlie stoned:)oat of the jiresent day. 
C The log-sled was an improvement upon 
? the logd)oat, and served its special pur- 
X poses. It was constructed in much the 
w same form as the log boat, the forks of 
° the triangle 1 )ei ng left longer, and selected 
I with a view to securing a long curved 
i runner; and the main stem was hewn 
, down, and left long enough to form a 
- tongue, to which the oxen were attached. 
I On lop of the forked or runner part, was 
fastened a rough floor, and a raised bench 

for a seat. 

This was the conveyance for long dis- 
tances ; it served to take the " grist to 
mill " (one of which, and we believe the 
first, was erected in what is now the city 
of Auburn, in 1794, and another in what 



20 



INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 










Fig. 15.— a Primitive Spinner. (Figiiier.) 




Pii). 10 —Egyptian Women using the Distaff. 



OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 



21 



is now Ludlowville, in 1798.) The County was then with- 
out roads, and fallen and decayiTig timber eneumbered the 
o-round, and tins eouveyanee would ride o\er obstacles, which 




couki not be safely surmounted by the log-boat or wheeled 
vehicles. In those early days, matron and maid availed 
themselves of this mode of conveyance to attend religious 
services and social gatherings. Whether this was more con- 



22 



INVEISTORS AND INVENTIONS 



ducive to Christianity, or ^ood 
digestion, we leave others to 
decide. 

These and othc^r iiiiprovernents 
and inventions not naineil, were 
none of theni covered l)y patents, 
and in fact anteda,te tlie pa,tent 
laws of this conntry, ami we 
admit that we camiot name with 
certainty, the })artien]ar })ersons 
to whom the credit ot these 
inventions is due; although we 
Fig. 18.— Red of the Olden Time, cau name sotiic of the early pio- 





FiG. 19.— Spiuuing Wheel for Fla.x. 

ncers who pi-acticed those arts with advantage t(j themselves 
and to the County. 



OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 



23 




^ 



Fig. 21.— Early Mode of Cluiniiuy. The •' I);ish-Chiiru. 



24 



INVEMTOKS AND INVENTIONS 



The first white settlers in the present limits of the County, 
were .John Harris, from Ilarrisbnrgh, Pa., in 1778, who 
located at Cavuga, where he established the lirst ferry for 
crossing the lake. Roswell Franklin, from Wyoming, who 
located near Aurora in i7Si<, and l^enjamin Avery, at 
Talleot's Corners, in the same yeai-. In 1790, Ehsha Durkeo 

and Kdward Paine settled 
near Aurora. Colonel Jolm 
Ilardenbergh settled in x\u- 
)urn in 1798, and erected 
a. grist mill in 179 -I-, and 
the |)lace was known as 
llardenbergh's Corners un- 
til 1805, when it took its 
pi'csent name. Charles Ken- 
ail, Ezekiel Landon, and 
Alanson Tracy, were also 
early settlers in Scipicx 

Fig. 23.-Thc Mc.dern Rotary Chum, ThcSC pcrSOUS, Or SOmC of 

BhinciKird type. ti,ein at Icast, and many 

others not named, practiced such arts at an early day in 
Cayuga County. 

From 1793, onward to 1810, the County rapidly increased 
in population, as at that time, the census shows a population 
of 29,840. The industries of the County, too, wore no less 
marked than its })opulation. At that time, 1,360 looms were 
in operation, })r(xlueing 340,870 yai-ds of cloth. Eleven 
Carding Mills, eleven Clothing Mills, nineteen Tanneries, 
and forty-seven Distilleries, were also in operation. A 
writer about that date, says : "The inhabitants clothe them- 
selves ])rinci],)ally in the productions of their own families; 
and were it not for the exhorbitant number of their dis- 
tilleries, I should add are very tem})erate and industrious." 




OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 25 

C.iyuga County, from 1810 up to the present time, lias, 
we think, in its enterprise and industries, kei)t fully uji to 
the necessities of the times, and will com[)are favorably with 
any other county or locality. Whilst Agriculture, Manu- 
factures and Commerce are inseparable and mutually de- 
pendent on each other, it is not improper to inquire how 
much the success of all these is due to the skill of the in- 
ventor, stimulated and protected by the patent laws of the 
country. 

The system of gi'anting [)atents was not known to the 
ancients, and, in many c<^nntries does not at the present 
time exist. The system was not, as many suppose, an in- 
vention of some New Phigland Yankee, though New England 
Yaidcees are many of them inventors ; but from Old England 
we derived (jur jKitent laws, and like every thing else of 
English origin, we have im})roved upon them. In England 
the granting of patents was based on a statute passed in 
1624, in the reign of James the First. 

In Fi-ancc, the earliest patent law was in 179 L. The 
patent system of the United States of America, has grown up 
under a p)ositive grant in the Federal Constitution. The first 
act was passed in 1790. The law was amended in 1793, 
and the term was for fourteen years with a provision for ex- 
tending the term of the piatent, until the amendment of the 
law, July 3, 1832, and this merely indicated how the ap- 
plication to Congress for an extension should be made ; the 
laws having from time to time been amended to the general 
law now in force relating to patents, which is that of 1870. 
By the act of 1836, patents were granted for fourteen years, 
and pirovision was made for an extension in certain cases for 
seven years more. In 1861, the original term was fixed at 
seventeen years, and extensions prohibited. Patents for 
designs may be taken oui, for threg and one-half, seven or 
fourteen years, iis tlie a})plicant ni.ay elect. 



26 INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 

The whole number of patents uTunted for inxentions 
by the United States from 1790 to Noviinbei- oO, 

1880, inehisive, is 280,00!) 

For Designs, 12,0-1-9 

For Trade-marks, 8,108 

For Labels, 2,867 

Making a total of, 257,583 

Of this nnmber, 47-1 were granted to i-esidents of Cayuga 
County, foi- inventions ; the eai'liest one being granted to 
Roswell Towsley of Seijiio, for a })l()w, January U, 1812, 
and the last one Get. 26, 18bO, to J. M. llurd, and J. W. 
Mosher, t)f Auburn, for a washing maehine. Of the patents 
granted, 68 were for harvesters; 11 for earriage axles and' 
boxes ; 12 for plows; 10 for har\ester k-nife grinders; 9 
for washing machines; 8 for clothes wringers ; 8 for churns; 
8 for threshing machines ; and the balance distributed over a 
wide held endjracing a large variety of sid)jects, including a 
cherry-stoner, carpet-stretcher, animal poke, stump extractor, 
life-boat, floating dock, dental engine, steam engine, match 
safe, and mill stone. Among the patentees are found ladies 
physicians, dentists, lawyers, bakers and brewers, blacksmiths, 
silversmiths, machinists and manufacturers, mayors, ex- 
mayors and aldermen. 

Of the earlier Inventors and Inventions, but little can with 
certainty be learned, as the destruction of the Patent Office 
and its records, by fire in 1886, cut ofT that source of in- 
formation except in a few cases, where the s})ecitications and 
drawings were afterwards restored. With the later Inventors 
anil Inventions, much difficulty has been experienced in 
obtaining the necessary facts. 

From 1790 to 1836, inclusive, forty-six patents were 
granted to residents of Cayuga County ; of which, ten were 
for })lows ; eight for threshing machines; five for stave 
sawing and jointing; two for spinning wheels; three 



OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 27 

for washiiiu' niaeliines, and one carli for a, clinni, liarnnv, 
inill-stoiie, iiiortic'ing' inachiue, liaiul rake, potasli, puin[), 
raising water, saddle, l)e(lstead, faunina' mill, fenee wire, 
knife^ sliarpent'r. furnace, shears, (,'ordage, weavers' harness, 
and inariufacturing hrandy from domestic articles. From 
lliis, it will l)e seen that all the threshing machine })atents, 
and all the ])lo\v patiMits except two, were granted prior to 
1837. The eai-liest patent issued to a resident of what is 
now Cayuga Ctmnty, was foi- a plow. 

It will be 'anpossible in the liniite(l time, ;.o more than 
l)rielly allude to a few of tlie four hundred and sevenly- 
four rrn-ent(M-s of Cayuga County ; and notice ()f many of the 
inventions is necessarily omitted, from inal)ility tool)tain the 
re([uired inh)rmation. 

. Wm. ]I. Ward ai)})ears as an active inventor, covering a 
wide held which embraces car-brakes and car-couplings, 
bullet machinery, rotary steam engines, gearwlieel, harvester 
rake, &c. 

M. C. Ci'onk appears as another inventor. Ten {)atents 
were ""ranted him on washinii" machines, clothes drvers, 
bottle-stoppers, bed bottc^ns, and so forth. 

Jacob Brinkerlioff a[)pears as an impi-over of ccuni shellers, 
clothes wringei's, barbed fence wire, and fence posts. 

S. W. and J. F. Palmer, are granted various patents on 
clothes wringers, clothes dryei's, reels, and snow shovels. 

Allen Sherwood secured })atents for improvements in 
grain binders, mowing machines, corn-shellei's, etc. 

A. 11 Reynolds, patents for tempering steel and knife 
sections. 

George W. Trip}), for dental chairs and dental engines. 

George J. Letchworth and Byron C. Smith a])pear as 
inventors and patentees for im[)rovements in liames. 

John H. Osborne, as an improver of tables and steam 
lieaters. 



28 



INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 



W. L. Bundy holds ])atents for his improvements in napkin 
hooks and sleeve Ijnttons. 

David Wright, from le(jal defences, lias turned his attention 
to farm fences and fruit barrels, and holds patents therefor. 

All of these inventions liave merit, and many of them are 
undoubtedly impoilant and useful. 




^^ 



Fig. 23. — Primitive Hoe of Wood, in Natural Form. 




Fig. 24 — Primitive Iloe, haviiii; Blade of lioiie. 

Plows were of early origin. In the Old 'J\'stameiit, more 
than sevcMi centuries before the Christian Kra, in Isaiah, 
second chajjter, and fourth verse, and in Micah, fourth 
chapter third verse, it is said, '' Tliey shall beat their swords 
into ])lo\v -shares." The plow of the ancient Egyptian.s, was 
of wood, a single crooked stick serving for the tail, and to this 
was fastened by a rope, a horizontal beam. 




Fig. 25.— Egyptians Plowing. 

^J^he Greeks nsed a plow made from a tree having diverg- 
ing branches, like the arms of an anchor. 

These plows were probably shod with bronze or iron, as 
represented in Fig. 27. 



29 



OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 

Wooden i>lows, with wrought iron shares laid with steel 
and known as the " Bnll Plow," were in use in this eountry 
within the memory of persons now living. 




Fig. 26.- Plow of the Ancient Greeks. 




Fi(i. ^r. 



In the early part of the eighteenth century, plows were 
made in Hohand, with n>ould-l,oards of wroi^ht iron or 
steel, and some of these were introduced >nto Lngh.nd and 

Scotland about that time. o .i i .,,1.,. 

About 1784, James Sn.all, of Berw.ckshn-e, Scotland, who 
wrote a treatise on plows, n.ade cast n-on mouldd.)ards and 
wrought iron shares, and in 1785 made east ,ron shares. 

Charles Newbol.l, of New Jersey, obtained a patent June 
'2(> 1797 for a ph)W. This is believe<l to have been the 
fi,;tcast'ironplown.adein the United States. The share 

was of wrought iron. , . t ^ i. 

David Peacock, of Burlington, N. J., obtained a pa cut 
April 1, 1807. This had a cast iron mould-b,.ard, and a 
wrought iron share edged with steel. 

FIRST PATENT GRANTKO TO A UKSIDKNT OF CAYUGA COUmY. 

From the patent olhce records, it appears that Roswell 



30 



INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 



'^Fovvsloy obtained tlie first patent granted to a resident of 
Cayuga County. This was for a plow, and was granted 
Januai-y U, IS12. Mr. TowsU'y was a blacksmith l)y ti'ade, 
and settled at vVurora, about 180G, })revious to whieli, lie 



l^gSD 



resided at Manilas in On- 
ondaga County. Where 
lie was l)orn and the date 
of his birth are uncertain. 
He built ill 1817, at 
Aurora, the first steam 
llouring mill west of the 
Hudson. The building 
was of stone and is now 
standing on the dock 
^ west of Kichard Morgan 
i, and Son's store, has long 
= been, and is now usecl as 
'l a store house. It had 
?? four run of stone, mtmu- 
r factured excellent (lour, 
and it was claimed when 
ill operation, that it cost 
nothing for fuel, as the 
large (piantitv of wood 
burnt ])ro(biced ashes 
(Miough to }>ay for the 
wood. It was ill o})eration 
oiil\' about a year when 
Mr. Tovvsley failed and 
soon after became de- 
ranged. He was sent to the Lunatic Asylum in New York, 
where he died al)out 1820. lie was an enterprising man, and 
carried on in addition to his flouring mill, a tannery, shoe 
sho}), large l)lacksmith shop ;uid a furnace. 




OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 31 

The destruction of the patent office, with all its records, by 
fire in 1836, has deprived us of a knowledge of his invention 
from that source, and the lapse of time renders it im|)Ossible 
to ascertain with any degree of cerkiinty the nature of the 
invention. As Towsley's invention, or at least his patent 
antedates that of Jethro Wood more than two years, and as 
he was running a furnace, it would be interesting to know 
the character of his invention. 

Mathew Patrick, of Sci})io, also obtained a patent on a 
plow, dated June 2, 1813. Thisantedates Wood's, more than 
a yeai". Of this invention nt^tliing can l)e learned, and the 
name of tlie inventor is not within the recollection of the 
" oldest inha])itant," 

Jonatlian Swan, of Scipio, a Friend^ was granted a patent 
July o, L814. and another April 24, 1824, for improvements 
in ])lows. lie was a merchant as well as a natural mechanic. 
He was at one time in partnership w'th Wood and Towsley 
in the jilow business ; and, for a time, they worked together 
in the same shop. He came to Aui-ora about 1810, from 
western Oneida County, and was a veiy intelligent man ; 
had a lai-ge family, many of whom became distinguished as 
jurists and in otlier positions. He died at Aurora and was 
buried in the Friends' Cemetery in the Quaker settlement. ^ 

Jedidiah Morgan, who with J. B. Harris, October 11, 
1814, oljtained a ])atent on a plow, was an entnp:i-ising farmer 
who settled at an early i\\\y a short distance south of Aui'ora, 
wdiere lie resided some time, but in later years, iri An: ora, where 
he died in 1826. He was an energetic man, an influential 
politician of the Clintonian school, and a Senator at the time 
of his death. With no remarkable mechanical talents, he 
furnished the ])ecuninry means for Harris, who was a black- 
smith. by trade, not the most skillful of his calling, but a 
most worthy citizen. 

R Towsley, and Jonatlian Swan, jointly olitained a patent 



32 INVENTOHS AND INVENTIONS 

Oil a })l()\v, wliicli from its title apparently settles the (pies- 
tioii and decides the cliaractei- of their {)receding inventions. 
''JMie records describe this last patent as a " Bull Plow." This 
kind of i)low was well known, and the only one in general 
use jirior to the introduction of the cast iron plow. The 
mould board was shaped from wood, and the edge and point 
or share, was of wrought iron faced with steel, and the mould 
board had thin sti'ips of iron fastened to it to {)rotect it from 
too rapid weai'. (See Fig. 28.) 

THE -JETHRO WOOD CASl' IRON PLOW. 

To Jethro Wt)od, a resident of Cayuga County, the 
country is indebted for the "Cast Iron Plow," in general 
use at the present day. The inventor was born at White 
Creek, Washington County, N. Y., March 1(>, 1774, and died 
in the town of Ledyard, Cayuga County, N. Y., Sept. 18, 
183-1, in the si.xty-first year of his age. lie married at the 
age of nineteen, and seven years afterwards, in 1800, he 
moved with his little family to Sci})io. His family occupied 
a, log house, two and one- ha If miles south cast of what is known 
as Poplar Ridge, until lu^ could erect a log house and open a 
clearing on laud located three-fouiths of a mile west of Poplar 
Ilidge which was given him by his father. When the house 
was ready he moved his family into it. In this \]\cy lived 
foi- years until his farm was cleai'ed, when a frame house 
was erected on the same ground and continued to be occu- 
pied until his decease. 'V\\e house is yet standing, and is 
ownc^l and occupied by Wm. R. Ila/ard. 

Mr. Wood's mechanical and inventive talent manifested 
itself at an early age. It is said when only live years old he 
commenced his experiments. He melted his mother's pewter 
s]>oons to cast a mould-board for a little plow, and cut the 
sHKill buckles from his father's harness to complete one for 
the c;it to draw the |)low with, l^hese early attempts were 



34 INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 

su]ipressc(l, for :i wliilc at least, by the old fashioned whip- 
ping that followed, and no active efforts were made in that 
direction again nntil after inarriage. At the time of his 
first settlement ill this County, the condition of the (country 
was such that i)lows were not a necicssity nnder the then 
system of cultivation. Mr. Wood, long before the country 
was really in condition for the plow, began his experiments, 
and turnips and potatoes were shaped by his knife and hands 
into miniature plows, as models of form. He commenced 
active experiments in Scipio as early as 18 L2, and his first 
patent was obtained Jul}' 1, 1814, and liis patent for the 
plow in its perfected form, September 1, 1819. 

When or where his first ])low was cast, is uncertain, as 
several localities claim the credit. One of Wood's plows, 
and it is believed by many to be the first, was cast under a 
tree standing at the time on the groiii'd now occupied by the 
residence of David Raymond, at Poj)lar Ridge. The iron 
was melted in a broken })otasli kettle lined with clay. Char- 
coal was used for fuel, and an ordinary blacksmith's bellows 
furnished the blast. Mr. Wood and Mr. Asa Shourds, fur- 
nislie<l the power. The pattcn-ns were made of woo<l by a 
carpenter and joiner residing in the vicinity, with the aid of 
Mr. Wood, who furnished a model made from a potato for 
the occasion. Afterwards he employed Josejdi Ridgeway, a 
carpenter and builder who had failed in the business in New 
York, to aid him, and together they spent sotne six or eight 
months in experiments with the plow for the pur[>ose of 
perfecting it. Mr. Ridgeway, subserpiently engaged in the 
manufacture of the Wood ])low at Columbus, Ohio, accumn- 
latcd a fortnne, returned to New York and }iai<l his old 
creditors in full. 

Mr. Wood found great difficulty at first in obtaining the 
proper kind, (piality and mixture of iron, which was only 
determined by careful experiment. Mr. Wood also met 



OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 35 

with g'l'eat diniculty in introducing liis })lovvs among the 
lai'nicrs, and was often ol)ligcd to give ph)W8 away to intro- 
duce them. Th(; prejudice against what was termed "Pot 
Metal Mould-l)oards" was universal. He traveled extensively 
himself, and sent ag(!nts to all parts of the country to bring 
the })low into use. In his early elforts, want of skill in the 
fonndrymen often compelled him to mould his castings him- 
self, as well as always furnish the patterns at his own cost, 
the foundrynicn having no confidence in his success. Furna- 
ces vvei'e few and small in those days. In his perfected plow, 
the mould-hoard was constructed and shaped on scientific 
principles, eveiy inch of the surface being made to bear an 
ecpial pi'essure so as to wear alike, and in 1819, his perfected 
plow })ossessed all the important elements of the plow in use 
at the present da}^ '^Phat patent was extended by act of 
Congress in 1832, the only way that an extension covdd be 
ol)tained beyond the original term, whicli was fourteen 
years. Prior to the extension, defects in the patent laws 
prevented his enforcing his just claims against inannfactnrers 
wdio i-efused to pay. Then followed amendments to the 
})atent laws, and expensive suits and trials for his children 
wliich consumed the extended term. Since this important 
and valuable invention has become without restriction open 
to the [lublic, manufacturers and farmers not only appreciate, 
but aeknowledg(,^ its value, which fairly estimated in dollars 
would reax'h the millions. 

"Although previous attem])ts had been made to construct 
cast plows. Wood's was the first that proved entirely success- 
ful, and through the excellence of his invention and un- 
wearied labors to perfect its manufactui'c and introduce it 
among the farmers, in connection with its cheapness and 
efficiency, he is justly regarded as the original inventor 
and successful introducer of the plow as now used by the 
farmers of the whole coruitr}' ; in the same way tliat to Fidton, 



36 INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 

the inventor of the present form of the steam-bout, is due 
the credit of phicing it successfully in use." 

This is an imperfect history of an invention with which 
the name of Jethro Wood, of Cayu<^a County, N. Y., will for 
all time be inseparably connected. A man of whom our 
distinguished fellow citizen, the late Secretary Seward, has 
so justly said: "No person has bcnelitted liis country 
pecuniarily more, and no man has been as inadccpiately 
rew^arded." 

I am enabled to present, through the courtesy of an un- 
known source, a few extracts from a little volume written by 
Mr. Frank Gilbert, entitled "Jethro Wood, Inventor of the 
Modern Plow." What I have already written concerniug 
the early conce])tion of a eastiron plow by Mr. Wood, i^ 
confirmed by the work acknowledged, in which is also told 
the following curious episode, which the author thinks 
strikingly illustrative of the perversities of fortune to Mr. 
Wood, in the gloomy days when ho. w\as laboring to win 
apj)reciati()n for his valual)lc invention. 

The author says : " It is a stoiy of a Czar and a Citizen," 
and continues : 

" All uncertainty as to the feasability of the new plow 
having been renuwed, and actuated by thatliroad philanthropy 
which was one of thepo-uliar chai'ms in the character of Mr. 
Wood, he desired to extend as widely as possible the area of 
his usefulness, and concluded to make the Czai' of Russia, 
so long the chief grain exporting country of the woi'ld, the 
present of one of his plows. During the Ilevolutionary war, 
then fresh in the American mind, that* great sovereign, 
Catherine of liussia, had been the staunch friend of this 
country, and that, too, without being impelled by jealousy of 
Great Britain. It seems to be a peculiar trait in the Roman- 
off family to admire liberty in the abstract, however absolute 
in practice. Sharing the prexailing good will toward Russia, 




JETHRO NA^OOD. 



(By the courtesy of Messrs. Rliodes & McClure, Cliicairo, publishers of 

" Jethro Wood, Inventor of the Muderii Plow." 

12 mo., p. 72, Chicago, 188 i.) 



38 INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 

Ml'. Wood coiicciveil tliis liappy tlioiiglit of inakiii,u' a tnily 
siibstaiilial coiitriUulion to Cossack civilization, a civilizu'ioii 
ever I'cadx', witli all its ci'iidoiicss, to adopt rorci<2;ii iiiipi-oN'"- 
iiiciits. That g'ift, ill one point, of \di'\v sliLjiit, proved of 
<i;iva1- Ucni'lit to llnssian Aii'ricnltiirc. It is inipossihle to 
state the extent, of aetnaJ advanta,ge (h.irivt'd by Russia from 
that 1-iailv inipei'ial gift. It was in eirect giving to that 
country, second only to tlie United Slates in ai'ea of tillage, 
in proportion to popnlaiion, the fi'ce use of the perfected 
plow. in an old cop\' of the New York Tribune, \xx i-ts 
palmy days of Horace Greeley and Solon liobinson, the tale 
of the riow and the Rin- is Jinfolded. Ft runs thus :"" 

"'During the year 1820, Jethro Wood sent one of his 
})l()ws to Ale.xander I, Emperor of Russia, and the peculiar 
circunistances attending the gift and its reception forineil a 
large [»art of the iie\vspa])er gossi]) of the day. Wood, though 
a man of cidtivar.iou, intellectually as well as agricultui-ally, 
was not familiar with Frcnicli, wdiich was then as now the 
diplomatic language. So he re(i[uested his personal friend, 
Dr. Samuel Mitchell, Prasident of the New York Society of 
Natural History and Sciences, to write a letter in French to 
accompany the gift.' " 

" 'The Autocrat of all the liussias i\>ceived the plow and 
letter, :ind sent hack a diamond ring — which the news})apers 
declared to l)e worth from $7,001) to $15,000— in token of 
liis appreciation Ry some imlirection, the ring was not 
delivered to the donor of the plow, hut to the writer of the 
letter, and Dr. Mitchell instantly a})propriated ittohisowMi 
use. Wood appealed to the Russian Minister at Washington 
for re<lress. The .Minister sent to his Emperor and asked to 
wdiom the I'ing belonged, and Alexander replied that it was 
intended for the inventor of the phnv. Armed with this 
authority, Wood again demanded the ring of Mitchell. But 
there were no steamshi}»s or telegraphs in those days, and 



OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 39 

Mitchell declared that in the long interval in which they had 
been waiting to hear from Kussia, he had given it to the 
cause of the Greeks, who were then rising to throw olf tlie 
yoke of their Turkish oppressors. A news]>aper of that time 
calls Mitidie'l's course 'an ingenious nioile of ipuu-tering on 
the enemy,' and the inventor's friends seem to have believed 
that the ring had been sold for his l)jnefit. At all events it 
never came to light again, and Wood, a peacefid man, a 
Quaker by profession, did not push the matter further.' '' 

"Perhaps another and <piite as potent a reason why 
Friend Wood did not follow up this matter was that 
weightier U-ffairs demanded his i immediate and entire attention. 
One difBculty was overcome only to develo}) another. No 
sooner had he silenced the cavils of the farmers and demon- 
strated the value of his ])atent, than infi'ingements upon his 
rights threatened to, and actually did, rob him of the fruits 
of his invention." '" "''' * " ''''" '" 

" Not even the cruel wrongs he sustained at the hands of 
dishonest infringers could turn the sweetness of his kindly 
temper. Nature had endowed him richly every way, and 
no gift had been abused. Physically, his was the highest 
type of manly beauty. Six feet and two inches in height, 
perfect in pi-oportion, courtly in manner, his presence was 
worthy his character." 

The subserpient lal>ors of Benjamin Wood, the son of 
Jetliro Wood, who received the invention of his father as a 
legacy, were full of zeal, energy, trials, disappointments and 
untiring labor, which finally resulted in an unetpuvocal 
decision by the Circuit Court at Albany, after a three days' 
trial, that the plow then in general use all over the country 
was unlike any other, and tliat the improvements which 
rendered it so eifective were due solely to Jethro Wood, and 
that all manufacturers must pay his heirs for the privilege of 
making it. Although this triumph was great, the patent 



40 INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 

had little nioi'e than a year to ran, and while Benjamin 
Wood was e\ertin_ti; his eilorts with a fair degree of sueeess, 
for its extension, he suddenly fell dead, while eonversing 
with one of his friends, of heart disease, and the patent 
expired without renewal. 

On settling the affairs of the estate, it was found that 
less than five hundred and fifty dollars had ever been 
received from this imjiortant invention. 

Sul)se(pient efforts by the remaining heirs, consisting of 
four daughters, to obtain provision and protecti(Mi, in whose 
interests the exclusive right of making and vending the im- 
pi'()\cments of the plow should rest for seven years, were 
made, and a bill providing that twenty-five cents on each 
plow made might be exacted, passed the Senate unaniuiously. 
In the House, the bill was killed 1)y the monc^y of the plow 
manufacturers, wlio then swarmed in AVashington, and the 
two younger of the Quaker sistei's who luid been most active 
in the matter retii'cd dcfeatt>d, and we may add defraudc(l. 
The v(3ry documents which had been used in their suit and 
which some friendly (? ) members of Congress advised them 
to deposit in Washington, mysteriously disappeared ; nor from 
that time to this have they been seen or heard of; and thus 
has })ei'ished the last vestige of }>roof of theii" father's in 
ventive and incomparably beneficial genius. 

Avery Babbitt, another inventor of Cayuga County, was 
boi"n in Bennington, Vermont, September 1, 1806. Died at 
Slatcrville, in Tompkins County, Sei)tember 12, 1872. He 
learned the carpenter and joiner trade, and followed the bus- 
iness until 18-18. For some time prior to his removal 
to Auburn, which was in 1838, he ivsided in Locke, in this 
County. 

In 1847, Mr. Baljbitt superintended the construction of 
the first carpet looms for use in Barber's Carpet Factory. 
He obtained his Ib'st patent on looms, October 8, 1850, and 



OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 41 

subsequently other patents were granted liini for ini[)rove- 
ments on bolt-cutters, prismatic lathes, loop machines, etc. 
Looms were manufactured l)y himself, and under the firra 
name of Babbitt & Hickey, quite extensively, and are now 
in use not only in Auburn, but in Philadelphia and othei* 
places. He was original in his conceptions and undertak- 
ings, one of the best mechanics in the County, fixed in pur- 
pose, energetic and persistent in whatever he undertook, and 
he filled with great credit, if not with pi'ofit to himself, an 
important place in the mechanical and industrial i)rogress of 
this County. 

The name of Calvin Young, a'nother inventor of Cayuga 
County, appears on the records of the patent office. He was 
born in Auburn, June 31, 1830. A natural mechanic, his 
tastes in that direction were manifested at an early jtge. 
When but fourteen years of age, he constructed a fire engine 
which did excellent service in extinouishing a fire which 
occurred in Court Street, befoi'c the somewhat tardy "City 
Firemen " of that day, reached the ground with their a})pa- 
ratus. 

In early life, through the kindness of the late Cyrus C. 
Dennis, he was afforded opjiortunities in the machine shops 
carried on in the prison under the superintendence of Win. 
H. Hudson, one of the best mechanics of that day, from 
whose instructions he derived great benefit in after life. 
These opjiortunities were further improved upon under Mr. 
Avery Babbitt when constructing the first carpet looms for 
Barbers Carpet Factory. Subsequently, he was employed 
in Brooklyn and Buft'alo, in building tools and machinery 
for manufacturing saddlery and harness hardware. He was 
also employed for a time, in the Auburn ami Syracuse Rail 
Road shops. In 1850, he entered into partnership with O. 
H. Burdick, in building straw cutters, and subseipiently 
engaged with Beardsley, Keeler and Curtis, as assistant fore- 



42 INVENTORS AND INVENTION'S 

mail, and continued in that position until the expiration of 
their prison contract, about three years, when John Cnrtis 
obtained the contract and was succeeded by Shekh^n & Co., 
Mr. Young continuing as foreman through all the changes. 
As foreman for Sheldon & Co., in 1858, he superintended 
the construction of the first Wheeler machines manufactured 
in the prison, and from that time to the present has been 
intimately connected with their manufacture. 

His first patented invention was a l)ullct machine, the 
main features of which were appropriated by others, and 
from which, by reason of a defect in his patent, he received 
no remuneration. He also obtained two patents on machines 
for upsetting and forming the collars on carriage a.\les. 
From these he derived pecuniary advantage. A patent was 
also obtained on self-rake improvements. 

A iirm unwavering friend and estimable citi/en, with 
opinions of his own, which once deliberately formed are not 
easily changed, he does not hesitate to express in plain words 
and at times with much force, his convictions. His life has 
been a successful one, due wholly to his own efiforts and 
industry. 

Charles W. Miles, another Cayuga County inventor, made 
improvements in carpet looms for which he received a patent. 
The improvement related to the shuttle-box and the shading 
of the figures in carpets. The improvement is in use in this 
city, Philadelphia and other places. He also learned his 
trade with Avery Babbitt, in this city. He was born in 
Sennett, Cayuga County, October 18, 1826. For eleven 
years he was engaged in the construction of carpet looms. 
From 1864 to 1867 he was engaged with Avery Babbitt in 
the manufacture of piano stools, since which time he has 
been emplo)'ed as foreman in the Cayuga Chief, and D. M. 
Osborne & Co.'s Eeaper Factory. Mr. Miles is another self- 
made man, a good mechanic, and an estimable citizen. 



OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 4S 

Fi'ederick Van Patten, ciiotlier inventor of Cayuga County, 
was born in the town of Victory, September 22, 1836. At 
the age of sixteen he became an a[)})rentice to the niachinisrs 
trade, and at the end of three years I'ouud einpk>_ynient in 
Coh's Armory, at Hartford, Conn. Here he remained until 
LSHl, when he accepted a position in the Fire Arms Mann- 
factor}' of the Kemingt(jns at Ihon, N. Y. In lb64, he came 
to Auburn, and engaged in the mechanic;d su})ervision of tlie 
maimfacture of tlie E. I). Cla])p patent thill coupling, wdiieh 
was manufactured in a small way in a ]):irt of the City Mills on 
Mechanic Street. To thill cou[)lings, fifth wheels were not 
long aftei' added. More room was required as the business 
increased, and in 1869 a large building was erected on Water 
Street for the purpose. The line of goods manufactured, 
increased, and in 1874 a large factory was erected on Gene- 
see Street, corner of Divisi(jn. A stock cc^mpany was formed 
in 1876, and the business has increased from year to year, 
and to-day this company furnish complete sets of forged 
irons for carriages, which, for top-buggies, requires over one 
hundred pieces of hardware. 

Numerous })atents have from time to time been granted 
to Mr. Van Patten for improvements in the dies used in the 
drop presses of the establishment for shaping with exactness 
and facility the many different pieces embraced in carriages 
as constructed at the present time. He has also, more 
recently, been granted a [)atent in conjunction with E. D. 
Clapp, on a machine for rolling the iron for making car- 
riage clips. 

E. D. Clapp, Esq., a natural mechanic and practical car- 
riage maker as well as a practical business man, whose name 
is inseparably connected with the foregoing enterprise, and 
to wdiom in a great measure the magnitude and success of 
tlie business is due, is also an inventor ; and to his first inven- 
tion, an improved thill coupling, is due the first establish- 



44 INVEKTOKS A^•D INVENTIONS 

ment of this business; a business which has gi'own to sneli 
astonisliing niagiiitade in so brief a sjiaee of time, and whicli 
to-day is furnishing to carriage makers throughout tlie eoun- 
try a superior ch)ss(if carriage liardwart', and to three hun<b"ed 
of the citizens of Anbui'u constant em|iloviueut. 

Mr. Cla|)[) was born in the town of Ira,, Ca^aiga County 
N. Y., November 13, i82l>. For the hist twenty-live years 
he has been a resident of the city of Auburn, lie learned 
the carriage maker's trade in Ira, and cari-ied it on success- 
fully there, for a time, before moving to Auburn, and he is 
now preparing, in connection with others, to renew the bus- 
iness on a more extensive scale than was ever dreamed of in 
tlie earlier days of carriage making. 

W. W. Crane, a Cayuga County inventor, tliougli boi'u in 
London, England, October 27, 1820, and leai-ning the machin- 
ist's trade there, has resided here for nearly thirty yeai's. 
lie first came to this country in 18-18 ; remained Init ti short 
time and returned to England, and again, in 1851, returned 
to this country where he has since resided. He has obtained 
nine patents, one of which was for an invention of Mrs. Crane 
and himself which was taken out by them jointly, it being 
for a "Self-lubricating Box for Car Axles." 

His first patent was granted in 1857, on a machine for pol- 
ishing morocco leather. His subsequent patents were for 
steam boilers and steam engines, couplings, hangers and 
self-lubricating boxes for shafts, and self-lubricating pulleys. 
Some of these improvements are in extensive use. The self- 
lubricating box and hanger are manufactured in New York 
City, and at Woonsocket Falls, R. I., by different parties, to 
the extent of $10,000 monthly. For six years i)ast Mr. 
Crane has carried on a foundry and machine shop on Water 
Street, Auburn, employing at the present time, twenty-eight 
men on general job work and repairs. Mi'. Crane is a good 
mechanic and a worthy citizen. 



OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 45 

Isaac Stark and Lyrnaii Pcrrigo are inventors of valuable 
improvements in spoke machines. Their patent was ob- 
tained June 13, 1854, and iVom that time to the present, 
machines have been made by Perrigo & Co., of Groton, Tomp- 
kins County, K Y., and the machines are now in use in fif- 
teen diffei-ent states of the Union. Lyman Perrigo was born 
in the town of Venice, Cayuga County, November 14, 1821, 
and died in Groton, Tompkins Co., October 15, 1870. He 
was a machinist by ti-ade, a good mechanic, and aimed to 
excel in his chosen liekl, and every machine and implement 
that passed through his hands bore the impress of his me- 
clianical skill and inventive talent. 

Isaac Stark, the co-inventor with Perrigo, died in Genoa, 
Cayuga County, where he resided for a long time previous. 
He was a carpenter by trade, and at one time carried on the 
manufacture of grain cradles and hand hay rakes at that 
place quite extensively. He was a superior mechanic. The 
beauty and finish of his handiwork, was proverbial. In the 
days of harvesting l)y hand, the man who was able to obtain 
a Stark cradle felt that he had the best implement of the 
kind in existence, and with a good l)inder behind him with 
a Stark rake, it was expected that a little more work would 
be accomplished tluvi could be done hy any otlier combina- 
tion of hand tools then in existence. 

Elliott G. Storke, in 1867, established the manufacture of 
iron bench and block planes, which he conducted up to his 
decease. He, as an inventor, has been granted several pat- 
ents for improvements in that class of tools. He was l)orn 
in Aurelius, in this County, June 18, 1811, and died in 
Aul)urn, Sept. 11, 1879. 

Mr. Storke received a limited common school, and partial 
academic education, wliicli was further improved upon by a 
careful study of bt)oks without the aid of teachers. At the 
ao-e of sixteen he engaged in teaching school. In 1842 he 



46 INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 

was aj)}K)int.cd County Superintendent of the pul)lie seliools 
of tliis Conntv. He next en^a^xgetl in book pu1)lisliing". Fi- 
naneiaJ enibarnissnient in 1856, followed by the paiiie of 
ISoT, foreed tlu^ firm with which he was connected, into li- 
(piidatJon. During the Rebellion, he accumulated nuiterial 
for its history, which he published. In 1866, with others, 
he was engaged in organizing the Merchants' Union Express 
Company. 

Mr. Storke was an enterprising man, who, througli a long 
and active business life I'etained the esteem of his fellow 
citizens. 

C. B. Hutchinson, a successful inventor of Cayuga Countv, 
resided in Aubuiii, corner of Grover and South Streets, at 
the time of his death, which took j)lace Se[)tember 12, 1869. 

Mr. Hutchinson was born in Marion, Wayne County, N. 
Y., Se}>tember 17, 1818. He learned the machinist's trade, 
and came to Auburn in 1 S54. Was a natural mechanic and 
inventor, and his in\eiitions exhibited remarkal»le skill and 
adaptation of means to ends. His inventions mainly per- 
tained to barrel mac^hinerv from wliich he derived consider 
able advantage, but the public much greater. He also made 
im]trovements in cider mills and grape presses, which have 
been extensively manufactured and used, and continue to 
be so manufactured and used. He received the sum of 
$20,000.00 for the patent on his cider and grape mill and 
press. 

Charles F. Davis, inventor, has been granted a patent on 
a harvester rake, and also on a grain drill. His improve- 
ment on grain drills consists in an ap})lication of devices by 
which the operator can change the di-ill teetli from single to 
double raidc, or from a straight line to a zig-zag line, and 
vice versa, by a single movement of a lever. This invention 
is one of much value, and is now in general use, and from it 
he has derived considerable p»ecuniary advantage. Mr. Davis 



OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 



47 



is now a resident of Auburn, and was born in the town of 
Aurelius, Cayn-a Co., August 10, 1845. He farmed it for 
a nunil)er of years in Aurelius, on the farm on whieh he was 
born; never 'learned any meehanieal trade, but is a natural 
mechanic ; can handle tools skillfully, and generally makes 
his own models and experimental machinery ; is a very 
worthy man and a good citizen. 

INVENTORS IN HARVKSTING MACHINERY. 





F:«. 31.-Sic.<le of the B.a„.e Epoch, F.«. 3|-S|ck^ 0^;^^!- EiV/^-" 
found hy M. Desor, cat Chevroux. ^ '«"'*=' ° 

(Prom Figuier's " Primitive 
Man.") 




Fig. :W.-E-yi.thui Ilavvcsting Scene ; Application of the Sickle 



48 



INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 



In harvesting grain, the sickle was ])r()hah]y the e:irliest 
instrnnient in use. It is mentioned in DeuttM'ononiy, six- 




FlG. 34. — Sickle of tlie Moderns. 







Fig. 35.—" The Reaper," (after Millett.) Applic;ition of the Sickle 




Pi(), 36. — The "^//iani," or Reaping Tmpleinent of Jiiva. «, Iland-piece ; i, Long 
Spatula, nhapeil left-liand piece. 

teenth chapter, ninth ver.se, and ngain in tlie twenty-third 
chapter, twenty-liftii verse. ^I'liis d;ites it Ijaek for three 
thousand years. 



4Q 

OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. \. 

In Jnva an instrument known as the Mru-«»C' and 
costin^^al-out three pence, is used for gathering or reainng 




Fig. 3T.-Applicati()n of the '^Ani-uid." 

.vain Tins instr,nnent is lieM hy the reaper in a peculiar 
manner, and witl> it he crops oil each separate ear with a 
few inches o[ the straw. This method of reaping has been 




Fig 38 -Reaping Machine described by Pliny the Elder. 

immemorially practiced nr that country and is unrversally 

followed. . -, u A : 

It has been eonjeeturcd that the veaper «s.ng tl e Am 

„,„■•• take, one of the two parts of the n«plement, «) m the 
ht hand, and the othet part, (i), ut the lelt ; and that tn 



50 



INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 



j);is.sing them over each other hke the l)Lacles of shears, the 
straw between them is cut and together with the head of 
grain, falls into an apron or basket worn b}' the reaper. 

The first mention of a machine for reaping grain, is given 
by l^linj the Elder, earl3' in the lirst centnry, who desci'ibes 
it as a van or cart of large size, with pi'oject- 
ing teeth on the edge, which was driven 
throiigh the standing corn by an ox yoked in 
the reverse direction, and used at that time 
in the extensive fields of the lowlands of 
Gaul, and which scM'ved to gather the cro]) 
bv strip[)ing ofT the heads. 

The nse of this machine is believed to 
have continued throngh centuries, as Palla- 
dins, (an Eastern Prelate and Ecclesiastical 
writer), early in the fifth century describes the same machine. 
When it went out of use is unknown. 




Fi.i. 3'.l. — Kiilart;ed 
Section of Sti'i|)|;ing 
'reeth of Harvostinj,' 
Macliiiu' ck'scril)t'(l 
l)y Pliny the Elder. 
First Century. 




Fig. 40.— Modern Harvesting Cradle Scythe. 

The first pntent granted for a reaping machine, was in 
England, Jidy -Ith, 1799, to Joseph Boyce. This machine 



OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 



51 



fM0M 




Fiu. 41.— Application 



of the Hiuvestiug Craille Scythe. 




,„, 4. -ScyUK. o, ..,c iron B,»c„. -ron, «,c .„„.«„, SetU.mcnt, o, S.iUcr,,.., 
Fic. 4». bcjuiL (Fijjuk-r's "Primitive Man.") 



52 



INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS. 




Fig. 43.— Ap|)lic;iti()n of the Scythe ; Luboring Colons, (12th Century,) after a Miniature 

in a Manuscript of the Ste Cftapelle, of tlie National Lil)iary of Paris. 

Lacroix. " Bibliophile Jacob." 




Fig. 44.— Scythe of Modern Times ; Used for Mowing Grass. 



54 INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 

had a sei"ies of knives or cutters aflixcd to tlie lower end of 
a vertieal spindle, which was arran^t^od on wlieels, ami caused 
to revolve against tlie grain by being puslied forward fi'oni 
behind. In the following year, Letters Patent were gi-atited 
for a nieehanical i-ea})er to Robert Meares, of Frome, Somer- 
setshire, on the twentieth of May. 

Vai'ious atti'inpts were made and patents granted in JMig- 
land prior to tlu; liolding ()f the World's Fair in Ibol, none 
of which had come into use, and all of winch had evidently 
been h)rgotten. Tlie exhibition of McCorniick's and IIus- 
sey's reapers at that time, awakened a fresh interest in ,Iolin 
Bull on the subject, and a trial in the held convinced him 
that lirother Jonathan was fully a match foi- him in [)cace 
as well as war. 

The earliest patent granted in the United States on Har- 
vesting Machines, was to Richard Fi'ench and John T. Haw- 
kins, of New Jersey, May 17, 1808, h)r ;i machine to cut 
grain. Seventeen patents wc]-e granted [trior to that of Obcd 
Uussey, December 81, 1838, which was the first really prai;- 
tical reaping machine, and contained many of the elements 
of the machines in use at the present day. 

Cyrus rr. McCoiinick's i)atent was of sul)scqucnt date, his 
first being granted June 21, 18o-l. 

Harvesting machines and Harvesting niacfiinerv, have long 
been constructed in this country. Thomas Hussey, brother of 
Obed Hussey, of Baltimoi-e, the inventor of the Hussey Reap- 
ing machine, commenced its manufactui-e in Auburn about 
1840. They w^ere first constructed in the old oil mill which 
occupied a portion of the gronnd on which the works of D. 
M. Osborne & Co. now stand, and the machine, in an improved 
h)rm, is now numufactured by I. W. (.^uick on Mechanic 
Sti-eet. Although Mr. Thomas Hussey was long connected 
with the manufacture, Icamiot learn that he obtained patents 
for any of his improvements. Mr. (Jbcd Hussey was one of 



OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 57 

tlu! earliest inventors of rea[)ing machines, and to liini tlio 
credit is dne of devising a cutting apparatus antl improving 
the same, that has stood the test of time, and remains sub- 
stantially that in general use at the present day, to wit : The 
recijirocatiiig escalo])ed cutter and the open slotted guaixl 
linger. 

Among the eai'liest grants of patents for harvesting 
machines, the name of Wm. A. Kirbj apjiears. Though 
some of his earlier patents were granted to him while a resi- 
dent of Buffalo in this state, he may well be claimed as a 
Cayuga County Inventor. Mr. Kirby was born in the town- 
ship of Scipio, in that part of it now known as the town of 
Ledyai'd, Sc[)teml)er 17, 1817, but is now a resident of the 
City of Auburn. His early educational advantages were 
limited and contined to the common school. When but 
twelve years of age, he drove a team on the tow-path of tlie 
canal from Seneca Fabs to Albany and back, taking the 
whole care of the team on the trip. When old enough, he 
learned the carpenter's trade, and followed that occupation 
six years. lie farmed it ten years, running a threshing- 
machine and clover mill during the fall and winter months 
of four of those years, making all necessary repairs of the 
machines himself. In 1852, and during the summer, he 
removed to Buffalo and entered into the employment of Mr. 
E. B. Forbush (_>f that place, who in July of that year, had 
taken out a patent for improvements in a grain and grass 
harvester. In the construction of the Forbush machine, Mr. 
Kirby afforded \'aluable aid. 

Mr. Kirby constructed one of those machines for exhibi- 
tion at the State F^air, which was held at Utica that year, 
commencing the work the fourth day of August and com- 
pleting it the fourth day of September, ready for shipment 
to Utica, where it was exhibited at the fair of that season as 
already mentioned, 



68 IXVKNTOHS AND INVENTIONS 

The l<\>i-l)iisli iiKicliiiHS wei'c ui;viiiit";icturcil in BiilTalo by 
a company of wliicli \\\v Smith Brothers were the prmcipal 
parties. The eomj)aiiv were sued as iiit'riiiuei-s of the 
Ketehiim j)ateiits by the owners thereof, ami wcvc I'on-ed to 
(liseoiitimie tlie maiiufaetiire. 

From witnessing the operation of the Forbush in tlie 
lield, and with the view of romedving its defects and at the 
same time avoid the Ketchum patents, Mr. Kirby in 1855, 
uiulertooi-: the construction of the Kirl)y machine which was 
completed in that year, and he obtained his lirst patent April 
15, 1856, and the second, September 2, of the same year. 
IMie first related to tlu^ method of connecting the guai'd lin- 
gers t() the linger bar, and projecting )'ivet heads and spnces 
in connection with the cutters and lingi'i's. '^Fhe ])atL'nt of 
September 2, 185(5, contained the important feature of pivot- 
ing the m;iin driving and supporting wheel to an arm which 
was in turn hinged to the frame of the machine concentric 
to the hrst gear shaft; which arrangement permitted the 
wheel to swing on its hinged connection with the gear framt>, 
indc[)endent of it and the frame ; and the cutting ap})aratus 
connected therewitli to rise and fall indepentlent of the up 
and down motions of the road wheel. A scat for the dri\iM- 
was pivt)ted to the frame of the machine and fulcrumed on 
the axle and its arm, so that the weight of the driver was 
tiddetl to tlie wheel to give it suflicient adhesion to the ground 
to drive the cutters, and at the same time relieve tlie cutting 
a}i})aratus and frame from undue ])ressure on the ground, 
when used in mowing; b}^ this arrangement of the wheel 
and frame, the cutting apparatus could be set at diU'erent 
heights from the ground for rea]>ing grain. 

To an unch-rstanding of this arrangement, and its distinc- 
ti\c (hirerenee from the Forbush machine, it may be stated 
that in the Forbush machine, the main driving and road 
wdieel was rigidly connected to the frame of the machine so 




Pig. 18.— Forbiish Machine cas a Mower. 




Fig. 49.— Fovhu.*h Macliine as u Reaper. 



60 INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS. 

that tlic (Vaine work and cutting a})pai'atu.s partook of tiie 
u|) and down movements of the wheel when ])assing over 
the ground ; the cutter a]>pai'atus at its imiei' end or point of 
connection with the frame, being induenced by the vertical 
movements of the main wheel, which by the arrangement of 
the Kirby devices was avoided. 

The Forbush was constructed with bracket connections 
between the frame work and finger bar, by which means, 
the cutting apparatus could be set at vai"3'ing heights for 
converting it into a reaper. In this respect, the Forlnish 
was an improvement on the Ketchum machine, which could 
oidy be converted into a reaper, by an enlargement of the 
main wdieel by bolting lugs or segment rims to its ])eriphory, 
wnich admitted only of a limited adjustment in the height 
of the cutting apparatus. 

The controllinar feature in the Ketchum machine, was an 
unohstrucled simce between the driving wheel and the finger 
bar and its supports. In this respect the Forl)Ush and tlie 
Ketchum machines were alike ; but in the Kirby, the finger 
bar was extended at its inner end, close to the main wheel, 
thus closing substantially the open space between the wheel 
and cutting apparatus ; the independent up and down move- 
ment of the wheel permitting the cutting apparatus to fol- 
low the ground in mowing. 

Mr. Kirby has from time to time made improvements in 
his machine which was, with the Ketchum and Foi'bush 
types, denominated "one-wheeled machines." lie has also 
made improvements in two-wheeled machines and revolving 
reel rakes, for all of which he has obtained patents, number- 
ing in all, on harvesters, seventeen, besides several others for 
improvements in other departments of which it is not neces- 
sary to more particularly speak. 

The manufacture of the Kirby machine was connnenced 
in Buffalo, N. Y., by the Buffalo Agricultural Works, Mr. 



62 



INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 



D. M. Oshorne, l)ein,u; one of the coiiipauy. In IHoJS, two 
liuiidred of these niacliines were iiianuf;n'tui'e(l in Anlairn, 
b\' Mr. O. H. Bnrdiek, for Osborne & liolhrook, the tirni 










-~^i^- 



.<v 



I K. ")l —Km I) Kiil)\ Miuliiiu 

consfr;tin,<:- of D. M. ()sl)orne mid O. I. Uolhi-ook. In l.s:.!i 
tlie Hrni of 1). M. Oshoriie h Co. was fornicd for the ni;iiiu- 
faeliux' of these niiichines in Anhnni. 1). AT. Osborne, Cvnis 
C. Deiniis ;iii(l Charles P. Wood eoiii}»osed the lirni. Mi'. 
Wooil retii'ed in bSil'J, and Mr. Dennis (hed in bSdO. After 
thede:ilh of Mr. Dennis, Mr. John II. Osborne ;ind Mi'. O. 
U. Ibirdiek l)e(;;iine ]i;irtn(.'rs. ■ These iiiiiehines eoiit iniied to 




til. ")»!— LiHi Kiihj "M.iclmie. 

be iniinnfaetiired extensively by the linn np to LSTo, wIumi 
the Caynij;a Chief Mniinhietnrinii,' Company becaine eonsoli- 
dated with the Co., and orj^'ani/ed undca" the nianuiaeturin,!^ 
laws of the state as a stoek coni[)any under the name and 
style of I). M. Oslx)rne k Co. 



64 INVENTORS ANT) INVENTIONS. 

In 1880, tlie number of nmcliines inannfactured by this 
coinpany readied 1(), 000, an<l the e()in[)any fui'nished eniplov- 
nient for one tlionsand of the citizens of Auburn. 

The Kirby nuu-hine continued to 1)e manufactured at Buf- 
falo and at Cand)ridge City, Indiana; and in bmited nuni- 
Ixi's for a sliort time at other points. '^^IMie whole number of 
machines of the Kii'by tyj)e manufactured up to the ])rcsent. 
time will not fall short of 120,000. 

It is believed that six years is about the average bfe time 
of muehines in use, and that they average a yearl\' ust^ of 
about (iighteen days, or one hun(b\'(l and eight days use in 
tlie life of the machine. A saving of $12.00 per day over 
the ])erformance of the same work l)y hand, is, witliout doubt 
ma(h", or $1,296.00 for each machine, or $155,552.0(» is saved 
to the farming public and the countrv over liar<l manual 
la])oi', by the use of the Kirby ma(;hine alone. 'Vlic magni- 
tude of tli(>se figures is sui'jjrising, ])ut they fall far shoi1. of 
the saving made by tlie later combined harvc^stci" and biinh'r 
constructed by 1). M. Osborne&Co. at tin; [)resent time, which 
lias the capacity to cut and deliver in ])undles, twenty a(;res 
of grain daily, a saving of nearly double that made by tlu^ 
ordinary harvester. 

Machines manufactured at Auburn l)y T). M. Os])orne & 
Co., now lind a market in nearly all of the gi'ass and grain 
growing poi'tioiis of tlie hal)ital)le globe; and they are in use 
as aids in gatliering the harvests of the woild cycvy month 
in the ycnv. '^ro(hiy, though mid-winter here, the click of 
Auburn manufactured machines is lieard bv oui- antipodes 
in far off Austi'alia and Soutli Anua'ica as they swec}) down 
and gather into bundles the i'i])ened grain of those countric^s. 

Mr. Kirby removed his family to Auburn in 1868, though 
he for several years previous liad spent the most of liis time 
in this city. Mr. Kirby in (sai'ly Wic was witliout pecuniary 
■ means, and for years it was an unceasing l)ut uncomplaining 



66 INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 

struggle with })overty. With fixed purpose aud a courage 
tha,t was equal to the occasion, iintii'iug industry nia,rk'cd his 
eH'orts, and success was tlie result. 

Ml'. (). PI. Burdick, another inventor oi" Cayuga County, 
has also (ny a ItMig time l)eeti closely connected with the 
I'caping and mowing machine industry of the County. '^Po 
him has hecn granted several patents for imprf)vements made 
liy him in harvesting macliineiy. I^Ik^ first l)ears date -I nne 
7th, 18()4, and was foi' an impi'ovement in self-raki's ; a rake 
that was arranged to sweej) in the arc of a circle aci'oss a 
(piaiirant sliapci] platform, an<l liad a I'ising and fnMing mo- 
tion so that it coidd make tlu^ return moNcnu'Ul without dis- 
turhing the accumulating grain on the ))latl'orm. This i'ak"e 
was operated in conjunction with a reel I'otating on a hori- 
zontal axis. This was used on machines manid'acturcil l>y 
D. M. Oshorne & Co. about two years, and was followed hy a 
further impi'ovemeiit hy Mr. Burdick, which was a I'ake of 
another typ(^, known as the reel rake, and on which he 
obtained a })atent (hitetl P'el)ruai-y 27, iSlKi. This latter, was 
further im])rov(Nl and a patent ol)taine(l thereh)r, December 
8, 1868. In Ibis t\-})e of rak"es, tli(> operation of gathering 
and bringing the; grain to the cutt(!i-s and laying it on the 
platf()rm, as well as dischai'ging it therefrom in gavels suit- 
able for binding, is performed by the same organizeil mech- 
anism, instead of by separate d(n'ic(\s, as with the i\vM. namc^d 
rake. It was extensively used on the Kirby machines and 
on a machine organized expressly for its use and known as 
the "Burdick Reaper." About 85,00(1 of these rakes have 
been made and sold up to the present time. 

Mr. Bui'dick also obtained a patent in conjunction with 
Mr. O. F. Daggett, for impi'ovements in two-wheeled mow- 
oi's, which has also been consti'ucted by Messrs. D. M. 
Osborne & Co. He has also obtainecl ])atents for fastenings 
h)r h)undi'ymen's (lasks, photograph printer's frames, and foi' 
a vegetable slicer. 



68 INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 

Ml-. Orriii II. Biu-dick was born in Brooklicld, Madison 
County, N. Y., N()vein1)ei' 14, 1814. His parents moved 
from tliore to Coi'tland Connty, when lie was but two years 
old. His edncationid advantages were confined to the com- 
mon school, and [or a very limited time oidy. AVhen eight 
yeai'S old he workcMl in a machine shop, and from that early 
age was (h^pendent on liis own resources for a livelihood. 
Ill' iiiastei'e(l the machinist's trade, and in the si)ring of 1835, 
wlieii twenty-one years of age, he. came to Auburn and found 
em])lo\-ment iii the shop of Burgess and Sprague, wdiich stood 
at that time; on the same ground now occupied by the D. M. 
Oshornc c*v: Co. hictory, on Mechanic Street. The firm was 
engaged in manuracturiiig sa(hller's and harness maker's 
tools. He remaine<l in Aubni-n until 1841, when he moved 
to Port Bvron, and found employment foi" two years in the 
machines slio]) of K. !'. lioss and Jonathan Seymour, on mill 
and job work ; aftei- which, he found emplo3'ment for three 
years with David Anthony at Union Springs on similar work. 

In 1847, Mr. Burcbck returned to Aubnrn and was em- 
plovc(l in constructing machinery and buihbng tlie first car- 
pet looms for Barber's Cai'pet Factoiy, and personally started 
all of them when completed. Afterwai'ds, he started a shop 
and manufactured straw cutters for Watronsaiid Osborne on 
contract, ainl snbserpicntlv for the firm of Osborne, Barlcer 
& Baldwin, until Mr. 1). M. Osborne bought out his partners 
and assumed tlie manufacture himself, employing Mi*. Bur- 
dick by the year, Mr. l^urdiclv furnisliing tools. 

Subseipiently, Mr. Bni'diclv purchased abuikbngon Water 
Sti-eet, whei-c he started a shop for general job work and 
repairs, and in 1857, manufactured on contract for Dean, 
Mackin and Al(h;n, the Wiieeler macliines, the first of that 
type manufactured in Auburn. In the fall of that y^ear, he 
moved to the corner of Genesee and Mechanic Streets, where 
he niauufactui'ed foi' Osborne & Ilolbrook, two hundred 



70 INVENTOHS AND INVENTIONS. 

Kirby iiiacliiiie's, the lirst of tliat type made in this County. 
Fi'oni that time to the present date he has been identilied 
with tlie eonstruetion of the niaehiiies manufaetnred by D. 
M. Osborne & Co., in Aubni'n. Mr. Burdiek is a self-made 
man, wlio with few aihantaiiX's, l)y perseverance and strict 
attention to business h;is acliicvt-'il success. 

h\ this connection, it is proper 1,o mention another Cavui^'a 
Count\' inventor, vvliose name is iuseparaltly connected with 
the reaping machine incbistry of this County. His patented 
inventions relate to pitman ct)imcctions f()r harvestei's, anil 
whilst the inventor, the Hon. D. M. ()sl)orne, may not claim 
that his })aitieular iV)rte is invention, he posesses, it will be 
admitted, in an eminent degree that business capacity as a 
manufacturer which goes hir towards making inventions a suc- 
cess. Ue was born in Harrison, Westchester County, N. Y., 
Decend)er 15, 1^22. In early days was a clerk in a hard- 
ware store in New York City. He came to Auburn in 18:i8, 
and engaged in the manufacture of Straw cutters on the cor- 
ner of Genesee and Mechanic Streets, and subsequently, as I 
have stated, in the mannfacture of the Kirby machine in the 
same building in wdncli the ollice of D. M. Osboi'ne & Co. 
now is, in 1858 ; which has been eidarged from time to time 
as the requirements of the constantly increasing business 
demanded, until it has reached a magnitude that he, at its 
early inception, could scarcely have anticipati^d. With the 
enterprise and business capacitv of an Osborne, and the 
inventive talent of a Kii'by and Bnnlick united, success was 
assured. 

John A. D(xlge, another inventor of Cayuga County, was 
born in Dutchess County, in this State, and became a resident 
of this County in 183o, with his father. Doctor David L. 
Dodge, who settled at Union S})rings in that year, and h)r 
many years was a practicing physician there. When a young 
man, he clerked it for his brother-in law, George Mosher, 




Fig. 5V.— Early Whuolcv Macliiuu. 1854-5. 




Fig. 58.-Cuttiug Apparatus of First Wliceler Machine, 1853. 



72 INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 

who ko])! a store at Poplar Ridge. Ili; afterwards heraine a 
Uail Road eoiitraetoi', and sul)se(|ueiitly a coal dealer in tiiis 
eity, and in 1858, heeanie the inanaizinu; heail of tlie iirni of 
Ross, Dodge and I^onieroy, which tirni engagcnl in the nian- 
nfactnre of snia,ll agrienltnral tools and wheehharrows in 
Anhni'n l*rison. 'riiey also engaged, (in eonneelion with 
Sheldon ^'^i (Jo., who had a eontraet in the ]ii-ison,) in liie 
niannl'artnre of what was tluMi k'nown as the Wheeler Com- 
l)ined Mower ami Re:iper. Snl)sei[nently they engage<l in 
the inannfaetnre of the Ball maehine; Sheldon k Co. taking 
the Wheeler. Alter this Mr. Ross and Mr. J^)lner()y retirt'(l, 
and the l>all niachine was sn}ierscd(Ml hy what was known as 
the Dodge maehine, and an ineorpoi'ated company, know as 
the Dodge and Stevenson Mannfaetnring Co., engaged quite 
ext(Misi\-elv in its maiinfaetJii-e. • 

On this maxdilne (Jol. Dodge ol)taiiie<l se\en jiatents indi- 
\ddnallv, and two in coiniection with others. Owe with 
George l^erry of this city, and another with Wm. II. Steven- 
son then i-esiding here. IMiese [)atents were princi|)ally im- 
])rovernents relating to the reel ralic. and were of considerable 
im|)ortance. '^I^lie imi)rovements consiste<l of devices which 
governed the reeling and raking mechanism ; the switch and 
roller controlling the arms being arranged outside of the 
pivoted a.xis of the arms. 

''JMie company went into li(piidation, and in 1874, Beards- 
ley, Wheeler & Co. pni chased, with the patterns and parts of 
the maciiine, a shop right under those })atents. The other 
inter(\sts in the I'ake patents wei-e previc)usl_y sold by the 
company to a certain firm of Reaper manufacturers lor the 
sum of sevent^'-live thousand dollars. Col. Dodge is now a 
i-esident of New York City and has a brokers ollice in Wall 
Street. 

In the departnuMit of hai-\-esting niacliiuery inventions, 
the name of Cyreuus Wheeler, dr., appeal's.' 'riiirty-nine 



74 TNVENTOKS AND INVENTIuNS. 

patents were uraiited toliiiii in that class, and sevci-;;l in otlic'r 
classes to wliieli it is not neeessary to refer partieiilarly. 

His Hrst patents, and perhaps the most ini])ortaut ones, 
bear date Deeeinber 5th, 1854, and Febrnarv (Uh, 1855. 
Prior to this time, machines lia<l been c()nstrnete(l witli 
riu'id fiii^'er l)ars. These inipi'o\'ements consisted in sn|)- 
portini;- the frame work and izearinii; of the machine^ on two 
wheels, and connectin,L!; the lin^iz'er bar by UiriLies, and proxid- 
inn' levers foi' liftinL;' and rockinL;' it, so as to ele\ate or ile- 
press the points of the cntters. In 1S54, a platform, red, 
and rakers seat were added, thus makinu' it a combined 
macliine. In tlie winter of b855 a self rake was applietl and 
ns( d in the harvest of 1856 quite successfully in standing 
iri'ain. On these improvements patents were obtained, and 
from tliat time onward successive patents were obtained h)r 
other im[)rovemeMts made, to none of which particular ref(!r- 
ence need be made, except that of Febi-uary Dth, 1864, 
whiidi was for a coml)inatiou and arraniicment of geai'ing, 
rendering it more compact and better adapted to the })ur[)ose 
of casing or boxing. The first machine was made at Po[)lar 
Ridge, Cayuga County, in a shop carried on by Shourds and 
Mosher, and the first trial was matle one mile south of there 
on the fai'in of the inventor. The cutting apparatus used at 
that time was an arrangement of j)ivoted shears. — See Fig. 
58. 

The trial was made in grass soaked l)y recent rains, and 
was satisfactory ; but the following season's use of the same 
kind of cutters developed the fact that those cuttei's 
were better adai)ted to wet than dry grass, and the 
Hussey cutters and fingers were substituted in their 
place. These machines continued to V)e manufactured at 
Pojdar Ridge u[) to 1860, reaching several hundred in 
number annually, when the estal)lishinent was moved to 
Aurora and continued there up to 1866. After the harvest 




Fk;. 00.— Wlieelcr :Miicliiiu' of 1s."j7. 





Fi(i. (il.— Wheeler M;ichine of I8S8-5!). 



76 INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 

of that season, it became consolidated as a stcx'k company, 
vvitli the Biirtis and Beai'dsley, and Bai'ber, Sheldon & Co. 
lirms, who were manufacturers of the same machine at 
Auburn, under the name and style of the Cayu<^a. Chief 
Manufacturini^ Companv, This company, in 1875, became 
consolidated with D. M. Osborne & Co. as a stock company, 
under the contiinied name of D. M. Osborne k Co., which 
iirin continues their manufactui'c at the })resent time. 

In 1857, Ori'in H. Bui'dick mnnufactnivd about one 
hundred of these machines for Dean, Machachin & Alden. 
In 1858, Ross, Dodge and Pomeroy, in connection with 
Sheldon & Co., manufa(.'tnred the same machines in the 
})rison, and Barber, Sheldon & Co., who succeeded Sheldon 
& Co. in the prison, continued their manufacture up to 1866. 

Several thousands of these machines wei'e maiuifactured at 
Alliance, Ohio, and in lesser numbers at other places. 

From 185-1 u]) to the present time not less than 85,000 
Wheeler machines have been manufactured in this country, 
and the whole number of two-wheeled hinged iingerd)ar 
machines manufactured in this country, up to the present 
time, will not fall short of 940,000. 

The several modilications of machines of the " Wheeler 
Type," are very distinctly shown by the several and pre- 
ceding cuts. The earliest, or 1854 machine, was destroyed 
before any picture of the same was obtained, but Fig. 57 is a 
fair representation thereof with the exception of the cutting 
apparatus, which was somewhat different, and is shown 
clearly in Fig. 58. 

Fig. 59 shows the machine as used for mowing in 1856. 
The same machine was also used for reaping, the platform 
and reel not being sliown in the illustration. 

Fig. 60 is a modification of the same machine, as used in 
1857 ; and Fig. 61 shows another modification as the 
machine was used in the years of 1858 and 1859. 



:liail;i!lliilil;i!llli>,'iifi^ 





^ ''«||ili''>liriHlilii 1'^^"^^ ' 




Fig. er.-" Cayuga Chief, Jr."- Mower of 1,S61. 





-pn, 68.-'- Cayuga Chief, Jr.'— on the Road, 1801. 



;tl;:''i'iil,;...^ 















" '"V,v' -^^ 



i|||||l Wu 




'HifiiCE I I V) 




Fig. 75.— Wheeler Mower No. 6, with Cover Raised to Show GeariDg. 



94: INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 

Jn ISfiO, tlic coiistructioii of the inacliine was changed l)v 
substituting wi'ought iron and steel for wood, and the 
distinctive name of "Cayuga Chief," adopted for it. Fig. 
62 represents the machine as a mower, and Fig. 63 shows 
the linger bar fohled and the machine on the road. This 
system of folding the finger bar around by the side of the 
machine, as shown, was ado})ted in the earlier machines and 
was covered by letters }iatent. 

Fig. 64 represents the machine as used in 1860, for reaping. 
Fig. (yo represents the same macliiiie as used for reaping in 
in 1861, an "overlianging reel " being used. Fig. 66 repre- 
sents a smaller sized " Cayuga Chief No. 2," as used for 
rea})ing in the year of 1862. 

P'ig. 67 represents a small mower, called the "Cayuga 
Cliief, Jr.," as used in 1862 ; and Fig. 68 shows the same 
machine with the finger bar folded, and on the road. 

Fig. 6d represents the " Ca_yuga Chief No. 1," in use as a 
"Dropper " in 186-t. 

Fig. 70 shows a one-wheeled .self-rakiiig reaper as used in 
1866, and known as the " Auburn Harvester." 

Fig. 71 is tlie " No. 1, Ca_yuga Chief," as used in the har- 
vest of 1867, with the Johnston self-rake aj^plied. 

Fig. 72 represents the "Cayuga Chief," with seif-rake 
attachiiieiit as used in 1868, two of the heads being what is 
known as " i-olling heads." The same machine is shown in 
Fig. 7o, with idl "rolling head" rakes, and a different mod- 
ification of the driving chain as in use in 1869 and 1870. 

Fig. 74: rcpiuscnts the Wheeler No. 6 as a mower in use 
in 1872. Fig. 75 shows the same machine with the protect- 
ing cover raised to exhil)it the arrangement of the gearing. 

Fig. 76 re})resents the No. 6 as a " Self Raking Eeaper " 
and as used in 1873. The same machine is shown in Fig. 
77, with the finger bar and platfoi-rn folded up, for traveling 
on the i-oad, and Fig, 78 represents the "Wheeler front-cut 



OF C.VYUGA COUNTY, N. Y. 



95 



Mower" of 1881, and known at the present time as tlie 
"Osborne No. 2, Independent Mower." 

In conclusion it may be stated that in prei)aring this arti- 
cle for the press, in the spring of 1882, it lias been deemed 
advisable to introduce cuts to illustrate the desci-iptive matter 
and give a better understanding of the several subjects and 
their various stages of progress to the present state of devel- 
opment. 




SUPPLEMENT TO 

THE INVENTORS AND INVENTIONS 

OF CAYUGA COUNTY, N. Y." 



Read before the Cayuga County Historical Society, at Auburn, N. Y. 
December 21st, t88o. 

BY DAVID M. OSBORNE. 



SUPPLEMENT TO "THE INVENTORS AND 
INVENTIONS OF CAYUGA COUNTY." 




R PRESIDENT :— I have 
one reason for regretting 
that some other member of 
tliis Society had not been 
' charged with the work of 
writing a paper on "Inven- 
tors and Inventions of 
Vf' Caynga County," and that 
% reason is, that while no 
man understands the sub- 
ject better oi- is Ijetter able to write such a paper than Mr. 
Wheeler, his modesty is so sensitive that he cannot speak of 
one inventor of Cayuga County with that freedom that 
another might. I therefore wish, with your [jermission, to 
add a short postscript to Mr. Wlieeler's paper, and pay my 
tribute of respect to his inventive genius and to his industry 
arKl ])erseverance. 

Cyrenus Wheeler, Jr., was born March 21st, 1817, in the 
town of Seekonk, Bristol Co., Mass., about tliree miles fi-om 
Providence, R. I. When two years old his father moved to 



loo SUPPLEMENT. 

Fall River, wlicix* lir eii^:t<i;c(l in Uiiildinii; cotton niai.-liinery 
and manufactin-in<4' cotton clotli. At an cai'ly n^c Mr. 
Wheeler worked in the machine slio]) and factoi'v, hciiinning 
in the lowest and working- n[i to tlie highest departnuMit, 
and at the age of 17 years was able to |)erfonn all the 
different operations required to con vert the raw material into 
cloth. In 18'>5 he came with liis father to this County, and 
settled on a farm one mile south of Poplar Ridge, where he 
lived for 21) year.s. Mr. Wheeler was a [)r(^tty good fai-mer, 
l)ut his mind ran to machiner}^, and T judge from the eom- 
j)lete wo]'ksho]»s and the miinhei' of experimental machines 
which can now he seen al)out the farm wliere he spent those 
29 years, that he was more intent in the invention and im- 
provement of agricultural machinery than in hoeing his corn, 
or weeding his onions; and the Seed planters, Straw cutters, 
Horse Pitch Forks, and Mowing and Reaping Machines on 
his own farm testify to a busy life well sj)ent in study and 
ex]3eriment. 

He also ex])erimented in his farming oj^erations, and kej»t 
careful records of his tests extending through many years. 
But his most successful inventions were in the line of 
Mowing and Reaping Machines, and his cro])s on his hirm 
were largely used and often sacrificed in practical tests oi his 
inventions. 

Manufacturers were slow in acknowledging and the farmers 
slow in a])plying his inventions, as has be(Mi the exj)erience 
with nearly all inventoi's; but his industr\' and pei'sm'ei'aiice 
finally trinm})hed, and liis success is attested by the fact that 
there is scarcely a Mowing or Reaping machine made in the 
world that does not cai'ry C)n it some mark of Mr. Wheelers 
invention, and I am glad to say that as long as his ])atents 
lived those inventions were acknowledged and royalties were 
paid for their use. 

To attain this success, Mr. Wheeler has had to live a very 



SUPPLEMENT. 101 

active life. He lias told nic that in the year 1868 he trav- 
eled in 18 States over 23,000 miles, including 40 trips between 
Poplar Ridge, where lie lived, and Auburn. 

It is to such men as Mr. Wheeler, Mr. Kirby, Mr. l)ur- 
dick and Mr. Obed llussey, who have devoted their lives to 
the improvement of machineiT, by drawing from the sinews 
of iron and steel tlie work which but foi' them would have 
to be done l)y human laboi-, this country is largely indebted 
for its progress in tlie mechanic arts and the immense strides 
it is making in the development of its resources, and in tak- 
ing its place, as it surely is, as the lirst nation of tlu^ world, 
first in resources, lirst in wealth, (irst in culture, and (iivst in 
civilization. 

It is the })roductof tliebi-;iius of such men that enabled us 
to feed and maintain our armv in the Warof the Rebellion ; 
the old men, women and children gathering the harvests, 
while the young men were fighting the battles. It enables the 
farmers of Cayuga (Jouut^- to do their own work, and send 
their sons and daughters to petjple the boundless prairies of 
Kansas, Nebraska and Dakota. It enables the almost count- 
less emigrants frt)m the Old World to settle and mak'c homes 
in oui- forests. It enables one man to cut and l)ind twenty 
acres of grain in a day, instead of two acres, (and this has 
been done in your life-time. Mr. President.) it enables this 
country to grow a yearly surplus of two liundred million 
bushels of grain to send to the hungry people of Europe; 
and it enables a citizen of Cayuga County to say, that we 
have in this City (and I say this without egotism, but with 
the same honest pride which you or any one may say it), the 
largest manufactory of Harvesting Machinery there is in the 
world. 

When the future writer on the sul)ject of " Inventors and 
Inventions of Cayuga County," or of the State of New York, 
shall read his paj)er before your Society, he will })lace high 



^^^ 



^ 



h<f 



102 



// 



SUPPLEMENT. 



up in the list of names of men who have devoted tlieii- lives 
to invention and to improvements of the age, and who have 
done their country good and faithful service, the nam(3 of 
Cvrenus Wheeler, Jr.; for his name is inse])aral)ly eonnecte(l 
with the history of harvesting maehinery, and will remain 
so as long as the I'ipening grain sliall wave over our liiils and 
our \-allevs, and as long as this llcpidilic remains tiaie to its 
oratitutU' tor her sons wh(.) woi'k foi- liui- gUjry. 




LH S '07 



